Frank West
Frank West is a main character from the Dead Rising series of survival horror games. The protagonist of the original Dead Rising, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record and Dead Rising 4, Frank is an overly zealous freelance photographer and photojournalist. Originally coming to Willamette for the "scoop of a lifetime", Frank at first thinks that an incident he witnesses with a helicopter pilot is a simple riot. However, he quickly discovers the truth is far worse. Throughout the game, Frank attempts to uncover the truth behind the zombie outbreak by investigating recent events and questioning characters that he finds trapped in the mall. Normally an "Average Joe", Frank is forced to take on the role of hero and rescue the many people trapped within various sections of the mall. Biography Personality Frank has an unusually deep sense of determination to find the next big story, taking big risks in order to achieve his goals. His personality is such that he would rather visit dangerous places to satisfy his desire for adventure than out of any sense of journalist curiosity. A loose cannon who doesn't like working for, or with, others, Frank's research style, articles and photos are all unregulated and sold to the highest bidder. While he's not the most polished and professional person in his field, he is strong, genuinely kind and decent, and always operates on instinct. Not the typical journalist, Frank is quite capable of handling himself in combat and is very keen to help other survivors to safety. He sees the town of Willamette, Colorado as his "next big scoop" when he is first introduced in Dead Rising. By spending time in Willamette, he manages to get the story of a lifetime after covering the first known zombie outbreak in US history. Appearance Frank usually wears a black jacket with a white button-up shirt, green pants and brown shoes. His appearance can also be changed by visiting various stores around the Willamette Shopping Mall, ranging from suits, dresses, hats, sunglasses, masks and more. Story ''Dead Rising Frank, after coming by a helicopter, becomes stranded at the Willamette Shopping Mall. Once inside the mall, he goes into the Entrance Plaza and finds many survivors. One of them tells him the mall is infested with zombies. While in the Entrance Plaza, he briefly sees a Hispanic woman, who leaves when they make eye contact. The mall is eventually breached when Lindsay Harris opens the doors to get to her dog, Madonna. Many of the survivors die, but Frank manages to escape upstairs into the security room. Once there, he meets Jessica McCarney, Brad Garrison, and Otis Washington. Brad leaves for supplies, and Frank follows him for a scoop, armed with a handgun given to him to Jessie. When Frank finds Brad, he is ambushed by Carlito Keyes, who manages to escape after the fight. Frank convinces Brad to let him cover the story when he shows him a picture of the man he is looking for, Dr. Barnaby, who refuses to leave the area he is barricaded in until it is safe for him to leave. Later, Brad and Frank find that Barnaby has been captured by Carlito. After a second confrontation with Carlito Keyes, Brad is injured and Carlito escapes yet again. Frank and Brad manage to bring Barnaby back, but Brad passes out from his injuries. Jessie then asks Frank to acquire a first aid kit for Brad from the pharmacy in the supermarket. While Frank is searching for the medical kit, he is attacked by the insane manager, Steven Chapman. Frank manages to defeat Chapman and, in the process, saves a woman from captivity. It is hinted she was looking for medicine as well. Frank notices that she is the same woman he met in the Entrance Plaza. When Frank offer to help her, she quickly gets angry and runs off. Dr. Barnaby finally awakens, but refuses to talk to anyone with Frank there, calling him "paparazzi". Frank then sees the woman he had confronted in the supermarket, Isabela Keyes, on the monitor. Frank eventually finds her and she attacks him on a motorcycle. Once Frank defeats her, she claims the zombie parasite came from Santa Cabeza and that Carlito is her brother. Isabela says she will talk Carlito into surrendering and agrees to meet him at a rendezvous point. As Frank is waiting at the designated place, Isabela bursts through the door with a zombie close behind. After it is killed, Frank thinks that she has been bitten, but Isabela says it is really a gunshot wound from her brother. She is then taken back to the security room for questioning in lieu of Carlito. When Brad is interrogating her, she tells him if he wants answers to ask the person who was the head of the Santa Cabeza Research Facility; Dr. Barnaby. Just after she reveals this, Jessica is attacked by Barnaby. After a brief struggle, Barnaby reveals that the zombies were accidentally created in an attempt at mass producing cattle. He then transforms into one of the undead, and is killed by Brad. Isabela explains that Carlito was planning on blowing up the mall, which would release the zombie plague beyond Willamette. Now against her brother's cause, Isabela devises a plan to disarm the explosives. Once they succeed in preventing the mall's destruction, Brad is killed after Carlito shoves him into a room full of zombies. Once back, Isabela and Frank go to her brother's hideout, but Isabela cannot crack his password. Carlito is then captured and fatally wounded by Larry Chiang, a pyschopathic butcher. Before dying from his wounds, Carlito gives Frank his locket to give to Isabela. Frank returns to Isabela and gives her the locket which contains the password to his computer. After the landlines are open, Jessie is able to contact the government. Afterwards, Jessie calls Frank and sadly informs Frank the military will come at midnight to kill everything and everyone, so the incident will be forgotten. The survivors saved by Frank escape via helicopter piloted by Otis, but Frank and Isabela are left behind. Jessie, now herself a zombie, attacks Frank and he is forced to kill her. In the "true ending" of ''Dead Rising, Isabela helps temporarily subdue Frank's infection from the struggle and escapes with him out of Willamette. ''Dead Rising 2 Frank doesn't appear in the sequel, he is only mentioned numerous times. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record '''Note': It should be noted that this alternate storyline is not considered canon. Off the Record features Frank West instead of Chuck Greene, in a reinterpretation of the events from the original Dead Rising 2. In addition to a new storyline and gameplay enhancements, Off the Record offers new missions, cutscenes, environments, enemies, items, vehicles, and weapons. Like the original Dead Rising, players are able to earn Prestige Points (PP) for specific photo opportunities that are graded against criteria such as horror, drama, erotica, humor, and brutality. If they like, players may download costume packs for Frank, which enhance his skills. After competing in Terror is Reality, Frank comes across his next big story as he witnesses shady dealings happening between TK and Brandon Whittaker, a member of the zombie protest group CURE. As the zombie outbreak in Fortune City unravels, Frank discovers the Fortune City Emergency Shelter and takes shelter from the chaos in the city. Unable to find Zombrex in the shelter, he sets out for the Royal Flush Plaza in order to find his daily dose. He enlists the help of Stacey Forsythe and later teams up with her (and Rebecca Chang) to find out the truth behind the outbreak. ''Dead Rising 2: Case West In ''Case West (which takes place after the events of Dead Rising 2), Chuck Greene asks for Frank's help to clear his name. Frank and Chuck head to the Phenotrans Facility to contact Frank's source. Frank and Chuck learn that the director of the facility managed to cure herself of the zombie infection. The director activates the factory's self-destruct mechanism. Chuck tries to stay behind and frantically search for the cure, but Frank convinces him to get out just in time. Outside of the facility, Chuck ponders on the difference a cure could make to the world, but Frank says it could have been a lie, and they at least have the proof to clear Chuck's name. ''Dead Rising 3 Frank appears as a playable character (along with Nick, Anna and Chuck) in one of the downloadable content packs. He can wear a blood-spattered Servbot head, or dress as B. B. Hood, Mike Haggar or Soki. He appears in his original ''Dead Rising look. Although he doesn't make an appearance in the story, Frank is mentioned multiple times throughout the game. A cardboard cutout of him (as well as Chuck Greene and Carlito Keyes) can be found in the museum, as well as a short biography stating that he is currently a zombie consultant and public speaker. He was also mentioned by Chuck Greene while he and Nick were pursuing Hemlock. Isabela Keyes mentions him while discussing the cure with Marian Mallon and accuses him and Chuck of leaving her to die after the incident at the Phenotrans Facility. ''Dead Rising 4 Frank appears in the fourth main installment as the game's protagonist. Other appearances *Frank West became available as a playable character in the PC version of ''Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, which was released on July 16, 2007. If the player desires, Frank can also be fitted with the armor of Mega Man X or in a pair of gold-trimmed blue boxer shorts (the colors of the Capcom logo). *Frank also appears (with a Servbot head and his Mega Man X's suit) in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars as a playable character. He even has a hyper combo called 'Dead Rising', which shares the name of his original series, and also uses guns in another hyper combo to reference the Wii remake of the first game. *Like in the originals, Frank was a hidden character in Lost Planet 2 and a playable character in the DLC-only Dead Rising 2: Case West. He is featured as the protagonist in Off The Record, which envisions the events of DR2 from his eyes. *Frank also appeared in the crossover SRPG game Project X Zone as one of the playable characters. He is paired up with Chinese zombie Hsien-Ko of Darkstalkers fame. *Frank was originally deconfirmed for the original Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds after his character silhouette was seen in several trailers. His character was deep in development, but was taken out due to unexpected extra work, presumably due to lag problems online caused by his Level 3 Hyper Combo. Producer Ryota Niitsuma said, "We felt we could direct our resources to better use, so we took Frank out". Frank does however appear playable in Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, in said game, his alternate outfit is again Mega Man X. *Frank returns as a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. Trivia *Designer Keiji Inafune wanted Frank West to be an average person instead of the usual Japanese characters which are young and beautiful. *In the original Dead Rising, when asked by Jessica if he knows how to use a gun, Frank utters his famous line, "I've covered wars, you know". This line (which has become a meme) is considered the most famous line in the series and has been referenced both within and outside the series. *Frank is the only character to appear in all the Dead Rising games in one way or another. Even though Frank doesn't appear in the original Dead Rising 2 and Dead Rising 3 (being only mentioned numerous times), he does appear in the non-canonical Off the Record remake and the canonical Case West DLC story of the former game, and as a DLC character in the latter game. *Frank's weapon of choice seems to be a baseball bat since he is usually seen holding one in most of the artworks he appears in. Gallery For more of this character, see their gallery. Category:Characters Category:Dead Rising Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Lost Planet Characters Category:Heroes Category:Horror Game Characters